Clara Mae Foster Smith

Clara was born on January 6, 1922, in Danville, Virginia, to the late C.D. and Emma Dodson Foster. The family moved to the Glenwood neighborhood of Greensboro when she was a toddler, and were members of Florida Street Baptist Church. Clara graduated from Greensboro Senior High in 1939. As teenagers, Clara and her two sisters played basketball in various business leagues in the city and were on several winning teams.

Clara married Robert Lane Smith in 1942 and as a military wife, moved several times as Lane was transferred by the Air Force. A newspaper article at the time featured Clara and Lane and their life in a tiny one bedroom apartment in Tampa, Florida, furnished with wooden crates for tables and other hand-me-down furniture.

After the war, they returned to Greensboro, and both worked for Internal Revenue Service until 1972, when they retired. They moved to North Myrtle Beach in 1974, and Clara had one fine garden, the bounty of which she shared with their neighbors. She enjoyed fishing in the waterway and off the pier, even if the catch was negligible. Clara volunteered to work at the polls on election days and enjoyed it, despite the low pay ($15 for a 14-hour day!). They lived at Windy Hill until 2001 when they returned to Greensboro to Friends Home West, where she and Lane met new friends and became reacquainted with old friends from the Glenwood and Revolution neighborhoods of their youth.

In addition to her parents, Clara preceded in death by her husband of 74 years; sister and brother-in-law, Frances and H. A. “Pete” Boone; sister and brother-in-law, Margaret and Gene Gottschalk; and sister-in-law, Martha Foster. Survivors include her daughter, Judith Smith Moore of Greensboro; brother, Edmund Foster of Hixson, Tennessee; nieces, Sandra F. Lee of Tennessee, Donna G. Ford (husband Dennis), Pamela S. Smith (husband Harry) both of Greensboro, and Susan Smith Clark (husband David) of Kernersville; and several nieces and nephews.

Memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, July 7, at the Mausoleum at Westminster Gardens.

Memorial contributions may be made to Friends Home West, Employee Appreciation Fund or Residents’ Assistance Fund, 6100 West Friendly Avenue, Greensboro, N. C. 27410.

Online condolences may be offered at www.haneslineberryfuneralhomes.com. Hanes-Lineberry N. Elm chapel is assisting the family.